


A perfect chapter laid at rest

by Robron101



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Coping, Future Fic, Goodbyes, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Soulmates, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 09:52:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14850536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Robron101/pseuds/Robron101
Summary: "They say love beyond the world cannot be separated by it. Death cannot kill what never dies."-William PennA goodbye to Aaron after Robert dies.





	A perfect chapter laid at rest

**Author's Note:**

> A small thing I wrote to possibly make you cry.

The vicar stands before them, saying words that are meant to console but Aaron finds no comfort in them. He feels lost, left behind now that Robert has passed away. His children are with him but even now he can't find comfort in those he loves. His Robert, his husband, his soulmate has left this world and Aaron behind. 

It isn't until the vicar is done speaking and asks if anyone has anything they'd like to say about Robert, that his twenty three-year-old daughter, Anna, untangles her hand from his and takes her place behind the podium. Her brown eyes are red and puffy from tears, she wears no makeup because Robert always said she was much prettier without and from the pocket of her dress she extracts a cream coloured envelope.

“My dad Robert asked me to read this today,” she spoke in a soft voice, still projecting enough to be heard in the back. “It's a letter for my dad and his husband Aaron.”

Aaron jerks in surprise, a flutter of emotion awakening his weary heart. Seb leans in closer, takes his hand and squeezes. 

Anna opens the envelope and clears her throat of swelling emotion before beginning.

 

_My dearest Aaron,_

_In the thirty-two years we have been together we've both discovered we're not men of words, so forgive me if I struggle now to find the words to express how grateful I am that you've loved me. Right now, you're downstairs on the phone with our daughter, laughter in your voice and it's beautiful. I have only just gotten off the phone with my doctor and received my diagnosis and it means one thing, I will be leaving you soon._

_I do not fear death, nor the judgement that awaits me. I do, however, worry how you'll fill the quiet moments now. I'm sorry to leave you, I promised you I'd stick around until I was eighty but I'm afraid I will have to break that promise._

_Don't worry, my love, because I have lived a full life. I was nothing the day I met you, reborn the day you loved me, broken the day I lost you and healed the day you found me again. You have taught me not stand in the shadow of my father's rejection, to stand proud with my head held high in this world, and that I don't need anger, revenge, and riches to amount to anything in this life._

_Thank you for raising our children with me, I often wonder if I was too stilted with them and closed off for fear of damaging them the same way we were as children. I'm glad they had you, I couldn't think of a better father than you. Seb, a child you could have resented but never did. You treated him as if he was yours, you opened your arms and wrapped him in a blanket of your love. You taught him how to be strong, courageous, and how it's okay to have feelings._

_Anna, our daughter, a later addition we both wanted. She was our missing piece, someone to make our family whole. Thanks to you she has became a strong, confident woman who fights for what she believes in. I mean it when I say our children couldn't have asked for a better dad._

_I can't list every reason I love you, there isn't enough paper in the world for that, but I can say that I didn't know what love was until I met you. My beautiful husband, you've never made me feel less than what I am, I hope that I've made you proud and that I was all you needed me to be._

_In a way I am happy to go first because I couldn't survive a moment in this life without you. You've always been much stronger than me. Your strength has carried me in this life and will lead me into the next._

_I want you to know, Aaron, that in this life you made me feel your love._

_And that is more than I could've hoped for, more than I could've asked for, and much more than I deserved._

_For now and for always, eternally yours,_

_-Robert_

 

Aaron let's the flow of tears pour, watching as his sobbing daughter steps away from the podium and joins them in the front row pew. She leans into him, arms going around him and he feels Seb hugging from his other side. Anna pressed Robert's goodbye letter into his hand and it's warm. 

Aaron cries again as they lay Robert to rest in the earth. He stays until everyone else is gone and then takes a seat next to Roberts grave. He rereads the letter ten times, each word wringing out his heart but still, he finds comfort in his late husband's words. 

“I have never been more proud of anyone in my life,” Aaron said, hoping wherever Robert is now he'll somehow understand. “You've given me far too much credit, because it's your strength that has carried me. I don't think I could've walked this world without you by my side, Robert. The quiet moments worry me as well,” he admitted, “but I'm afraid I'll have to muddle through because I'm not finished here. I know we'll find each other again, and I hope I don't make you wait too long.” 

He touched the ground, hoping for something but getting nothing in return. It doesn't make him feel alone, however. “You made me feel your love, Robert. Thank you.” 

He stays until the sun sets and walks home alone, and even though his heart is heavy with loss, he knows this will be his last walk alone because he will find Robert again. 

In this life and the next.


End file.
